By ANGELO JACINTO
IT MAY not be the usual breezy route that San Beda is so used to taking, but the most important thing is they’re back in their old stomping ground.
The Red Lions needed to win twice in the semis to reach the NCAA Season 99 finals and they did just that after a masterful 82-72 win over the Lyceum Pirates in sudden death on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Having dominated the league since 2006, the Red Lions have made the finals as the top seed from Season 82 up until the NCAA Season 95 Finals in 2019 against their archrival Letran.
Since then, the Red Lions have missed out on the semifinals having lost twice as the lower-seeded squad in Seasons 97 and 98.
But that’s in the past now as they’re now set for to play Mapua in the NCAA Season 99 finals next Wednesday, their 16th time in the finals – the most for any school in the Final Four era.
“At the start of the season yun naman ang goal namin which is to win the championship, so we’re one step closer,” said San Beda coach Yuri Escueta.
Heroes came aplenty for San Beda, but none bigger than Jomel Puno who came away with the biggest plays in the fourth quarter – responding each time Lyceum tries to start a rally late in the game.
Puno scored nine points in the payoff period, including three important putbacks just when the Pirates were going for one last push.
After the Pirates got within nine, 74-65, with 5:52 left in the third, Puno cleaned up well after his teammates’ misses, going on a personal 6-2 run to extinguish the last remaining fire in the Pirates’ steam engine.
Puno finished with 15 points and 10 boards while James Payosing led the Red Lions with a double-double of his own of 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Cortez neutralized
Jacob Cortez, the man who torched Lyceum in the first game with 28, got limited to just seven points in this game, but that didn’t seem to matter for the Red Lions as they found offense everywhere, with Nygel Gonzales (11), Yukien Andrada 10) and Damie Cuntapay (9) backing up Puno and Payosing.
Playing his last game in a Piratea uniform, Enoch Valdez finished with 28 points and seven rebounds while JM Bravo added 16 points and 11 rebounds. But that couldn't save the Pirates from again falling victim to the Red Lions in the playoffs enroute to their second consecutive semis defeat.
The scores:
San Beda 82 - Payosing 18, Puno 15, Gonzales 11, Andrada 10, Cuntapay 9, Cortez 7, Jopia 6, Tagle 3, Visser 3, Alfaro 0
Lyceum 72 - Valdez 28, Bravo 16, Guadana 8, Barba 7, Cunanan 6, Villegas 4, Omandac 3, Montano 0, Umali 0, Panefiel 0
Quarters: 26-17, 41-38, 66-56, 82-72
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